Superstorm Sandy blamed for drop in NYRA wagering

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- East Coast betting on New York Racing Association races was off 30 percent in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, NYRA President Ellen McClain said Monday.

The Oct. 29-31 superstorm also downed about 100 trees at Belmont Park, including one that fell on a barn, but there were no human or equine injuries.

Since Sandy, two days of the fall Aqueduct Racetrack meet, which began Nov. 2, have been canceled by bad weather.

Sandy forced the closure of simulcast facilities at Belmont for four days and at Aqueduct for two days, resulting in lost revenue.

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"It's going to be a challenge to make our numbers," McClain told members of a state Franchise Oversight Board that monitors NYRA's business activities.

The panel met at the state capitol in Albany and communicated via videoconferencing with NYRA executives and other board members in New York City.

"It's been rough on our employees," McClain said about the hurricane. "I'd say 60 percent were affected in some way, although only one lost their home."

The mammoth storm, which stretched from the Carolinas to Maine, also caused a 10 percent drop in wagering on this year's Breeders' Cup races among East Coast bettors, she said. The Breeders' Cup was held during the first week of November at Santa Anita Park in California.

"We got power back in a few days at Belmont," McClain said. "All in all, we made out OK."

In a third-quarter report to oversight board members, NYRA Chief Financial Officer Susanne Stover said attendance at this fall's Belmont Park meet was down 14.3 percent. However, handle posted an 11.5 percent gain.

Belmont is only eight miles from the new Resorts World New York Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack, which opened last fall.

Board member John Crotty, as he's done in past meetings, suggested that some gaming revenue currently used to boost purses should instead be used to market NYRA.

"The business has to sustain itself," he said.

But McClain said higher purses have improved the overall racing product.

"Barns are full," she said. "A year ago they were not."

Also, field sizes have gone up. When more horses race, more money is wagered.

The new NYRA Reorganization Board that Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced earlier this fall has not met yet. The 17-member board, which includes 12 state appointees, is scheduled to meet Dec. 12 in New York.

NYRA budgeted $20.3 million for capital improvements this year and has spent $9.9 million to date, most of it at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course. Crotty asked why those tracks have been given higher priority.

Saratoga is NYRA's most profitable meet, and home to America's oldest racetrack. Its aging facilities need more attention.

"The board has got to decide on the continued direction and long-term plan for Aqueduct," McClain said. "Long term, even if we don't operate there, we want to have a presence there."

This fall's Belmont Park attendance was 114,284, versus 133,369 in 2011. But NYRA's total handle during the meet was $335.2 million, up nearly $35 million from the $300.6 million wagered last year.

All-sources handle on NYRA races was $299.1 million, a 13.7 percent increase. On-track handle on NYRA races alone was $42.5 million, up 2 percent from $41.7 million in 2011.